Multi-Method and Device with an Advanced Acousto-Optic Deflector (AOD)  and a Dense Brush of Flying Spots

ABSTRACT

The technology disclosed relates to improved acousto-optic deflectors (AODs). In particular, it relates to compensation for subtle effects not previously addressed by AOD designers. A shifting center of gravity is described and addressed using advanced power equalisation strategies. Denser writing brushes are provided by using a two-dimensional array of beams with corrections for factors such as angle of incidence at the AOD interface.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims the benefit of three U.S.Provisional Patent Applications filed on Nov. 4, 2010. It claims thebenefit of U.S. Prov. App. No. 61/410,331, entitled “Method and DeviceHaving Increased Bandwidth in an Acousto-Optic Deflector,” by TorbjörnSandström. It further claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. App. No.61/410,332, entitled, “Method and Device Having a Two Dimensional Brushin an Acousto-Optic Deflector Having an Extended Field in a ScanningDirection,” by Torbjörn Sandström and Hans Martinsson. It also claimsthe benefit of U.S. Prov. App. No. 61/410,333, entitled “Method andDevice Having a Complex Two Dimensional Brush Formed withNon-Interfering Sub-Brushes,” by Torbjörn Sandström. These provisionalapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The technology disclosed relates to improved acousto-optic deflectors(AODs). In particular, it relates to compensation for subtle effects notpreviously addressed by AOD designers. A shifting center of gravity isdescribed and addressed using advanced power equalisation strategies.Denser writing brushes are provided by using a two-dimensional array ofbeams with corrections for factors such as angle of incidence at the AODinterface.

An acousto-optic deflector is driven by an induced ultrasonic acousticwave through a crystal, such as a TeO2 crystal. Typically, this wave isa so-called chirp or sawtooth wave. The chirp has a bandwidth, which isthe difference between the minimum and maximum frequency. The maximumrange of deflection from the AOD corresponds to this bandwidth. The scanfrequency corresponds to the period of the chirp. The shorter the chirp,the more frequently the deflector scans a beam through its range ofdeflection.

SUMMARY

The technology disclosed relates to improved acousto-optic deflectors(AODs). In particular, it relates to compensation for subtle effects notpreviously addressed by AOD designers. A shifting center of gravity isdescribed and addressed using advanced power equalisation strategies,with improved telecentricity. Denser writing brushes are provided byusing a two-dimensional array of beams with corrections for factors suchas angle of incidence at the AOD interface. Faster or higher precisionwriting can be achieved using a denser brush. Particular aspects of thepresent invention are described in the claims, specification anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: A generic multibeam scanning system in which the invention canbe used. FIGS. 1 a and 1 b show two views as indicated by the coordinatesystems.

FIG. 2: A chirped RF signal fed to the AOD in a system like that in FIG.1.

FIG. 3: An acousto-optic deflector with case, crystal, RF cable andRF-matching network. Va indicates the acoustic velocity and propagationdirection of the acoustic wave.

FIG. 4: Explains the coordinate system used in later figures. Thediagram shows frequency vs. position at a point in time, and theposition axis is the position along the direction of propagation of theacoustic wave.

FIG. 5: The cross-section of the beam and the effect of thefrequency-dependent acoustic attenuation in an example AOD driven withconstant power.

FIG. 6: The acoustic intensity across the crystal after the RF has beenadjusted to give constant diffraction efficiency at 4.4 mm.

FIG. 7 a: How the beam appears to shift during the scan.

FIG. 7 b: The shift of the center of gravity with previously used RFcalibration and with the invention applied to an example AOD.

FIG. 8: Same as FIG. 5 but with a different example AOD having a largerfrequency span.

FIGS. 9 a-9 b: Same as FIGS. 7 a-7 b but with an example AOD having alarger frequency span.

FIG. 10 a: The power envelope to the modulator for an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 10 b: The calibrated power to the AOD to create constant power overthe scan and constant profile. There are several possible functions thatstabilize the power profile with different slopes. FIG. 10 b shows oneexample.

FIG. 10 c: Illustrates how the center of gravity is aligned over timeacross the aperture of the AOD.

FIG. 10 d: An example of reduced shift of the center of gravity with theconstant profile approach disclosed herein.

FIG. 11: How the modulator signal can be used.

FIG. 12: How individual modulator signals are used to correct forbeam-to-beam variations in the power.

FIG. 13: Example flowchart for a system that can apply both types ofcorrection taught in this application.

FIG. 14 a: A deflector set up for multibeam scanning and definitions ofthe angles.

FIG. 14 b: Example of diffraction curves for beams with differentparameters.

FIG. 15 a: Making a complex brush using multiple lasers.

FIGS. 15 b-g: Examples of multibeam brushes.

FIG. 16: An example embodiment where a complete brush is made from asingle laser source.

FIG. 17: A diagram of combining two AOMs.

FIG. 18: A sample system embodying some of the technology disclosed.

FIG. 19 depicts a simplified example acousto-optic deflector and showsthe attenuation of the sound as sound with different frequencies travelsthrough the crystal.

FIG. 20 shows the travelling of the chirp signal through the crystal ata number of times since the start of the chirp.

FIG. 21 shows first how each frequency is sent out with a differentpower so that they all have equal power at the center of the aperture.It further shows how curves showing instantaneous power through thedeflector are derived from the attenuation curves.

FIG. 22 shows the power through a deflector without equalisation atdifferent times.

FIG. 23 shows a conventional equalisation as used in prior art.

FIG. 24 shows an example of equalisation following the invented methodfor the same example deflector as in FIG. 19.

FIG. 25 shows an example of equalisation according to the inventedmethod using the same size and type of AOD crystal, but operating overtwice as large a frequency span.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is made with reference to thefigures. Preferred embodiments are described to illustrate the presentinvention, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Thoseof ordinary skill in the art will recognize a variety of equivalentvariations on the description that follows.

Advanced AOD Control with Power Modulation

The technology disclosed uses power modulation, in a writing system witha single acousto-optic deflector (AOD) that scans multiple beams, tocorrect for certain errors related to the physical principles of theAOD.

Also disclosed are methods and devices having a two-dimensional brush inan acousto-optic deflector having an extended field in a scanningdirection. A two-dimensional brush is enabled by compensation forvarying angles of incidence between component beams of a sub-brush andan acousto-optic crystal. The disclosure that follows explains how theeffectively available bandwidth of an AOD can be increased by reducingthe detrimental effects of varying acoustic attenuation. In an AOD, theeffectively available bandwidth for precise patterning depends in parton the handling of beam components that have differing angles ofincidence to the AOD crystal. The technology disclosed introduces acompensation for the differing angles of incidence, applying a varietyof alternative approaches. Compensating for the differing anglesincreases design flexibility by permitting more beam components to becombined in a single brush, despite increasing variation in incidenceangle.

In AODs, acoustic attenuation at higher RF frequencies affects thedeflected beams negatively. In addition, differential errors in atwo-dimensional brush of beams result from variation in the angle ofincidence between the individual brush beams and the surface of the AODcrystal.

We disclose applying time-varying corrections to both the AOD and powermodulation. The technology disclosed can be defined locally in an AODoperating over a wide frequency span. Consider a set of beams cominginto the AOD from a range of angles α spread in two directions η and ξ,as depicted in FIG. 14 a. This technology combines variation of the RFpower used to drive the AOD and variation of the power of the beams. Thebeams may be modulated before or after the AOD, or even at the radiationsource. This approach reduces telecentricity errors and power variationsamong beams across the scan. It stabilizes diffraction efficiency in theAOD across the scan and between the beams.

The reduction of telecentricity errors over the scan can be understoodby consideration of the figures. FIG. 5 shows how attenuation varieswith frequency. Multiple curves are shown for parts of the chirp thatare at different frequencies. The lowest frequency with the chirp is atthe first time, 0.0 μs. The highest frequency of the chirp is at the endof the chirp period, 23.4 μs. (In the discussion that follows, we oftenrefer to the frequency of the chirp, instead of the time position in thechirp period, as frequency has a more intuitive relationship to thephysical effects.)

In FIG. 5, the relative amplitude of the chirp diminishes as it travels9 mm through the AOD crystal (355 in FIG. 3). For the lowest frequency501 a-b of the chirp, the graph shows a relative amplitude attenuationfrom 1.0 to about 0.75. For the highest frequency of the chirp 591 a-b,the attenuation across the crystal is from 1.0 to about 0.33. Forreference, the Gaussian distribution of an input laser beam that isapplied to the AOD is overlaid on the cross-section of the crystal 595.The highest intensity and energy density in the optical beam in 515 a-bis between 2 and 7 mm, centered at 4.5 mm.

In the past, a power equalisation has been applied over the period ofthe chirp signal. As depicted in FIG. 6, the power is equalized acrossfrequencies as each of the frequencies crosses the middle of thecrystal, at 4.4 mm. Only the total diffraction power is considered andnot diffraction efficiency at varying frequencies of the chirp. Thisresults in telecentricity error. As in FIG. 5, the low frequency 601 a-band high frequency 691 a-b attenuation curves are labeled.

Recent design work to build an acousto-optic deflector with a higherbandwidth capability has led to concern about the telecentricity error.This error shifts the position of the apparent source of the beam whenlooking into the optics from the workpiece, and the shift varies withthe frequency. It is desired in lithography to have the source appear tobe stationary on the optical axis.

FIG. 7 a analyzes the combined effect of the Gaussian distribution ofthe input optical beam and the AOD effects. The X-scale spans 4.1 mm to4.8 mm, instead of 0 to 9 mm. The individual graph lines indicate theshifted beam profile at different chirp frequencies, after applyingpower equalisation. The curves show that the power equalized at thehighest frequency part of the chirp (at 23.4 μs, 791 a-b) shifts theentire curve about 0.08 mm to the left of the curve for the lowestfrequency part of the chirp (at 0.0 μs, 701 a-b.) The cross-over 745 ofthe curves at 4.4 mm in this graph corresponds to the cross-over 645 inFIG. 6. at a magnified scale.

The curves in FIG. 7 a reveal a shifting of the center of gravity (COG)of the Gaussian input optical beam after diffraction. The superimposedcurves of FIG. 7 a reflect power equalisation for total power. Again,this total power equalisation was intended to produce the cross-over ofbeam intensity curves 745 that is graphed at 4.4 mm, 0.7875 intensity.From the superimposed curves, it appears that the intensity apex is atdifferent points that depend on the chirp frequency. The effect of totalpower equalisation on the center of gravity position is quantified inFIG. 7 b, by the curve 710 that slopes downward from top left to bottomright. This curve shows a change in the COG over the range offrequencies of about 76 μm. This corresponds to a telecentricity errorof about 25 mrad, some of which is removed during alignment and linearcalibration. Telecentricity error in this context means that the landingangle between the beam and the surface of the workpiece, after the finallens of the writing system, changes during the scan. This creates ascan-length error if the workpiece is slightly shifted along the opticalaxis. With the advanced power equalization approach disclosed herein,the COG shift error is significantly reduced, as depicted by the nearlyhorizontal line 920.

Increasing the bandwidth used to drive an AOD increases the shift in theCOG, when applying the total power equalisation approach. In FIG. 9 a,the center of gravity shifts between about 4.27 mm and 4.44 mm. Thecurve 910 in FIG. 9 b shows a shift range of 136 μm, nearly twice theshift of 76 μm plotted for a narrower bandwidth. With the advanced powerequalization approach disclosed herein, the COG shift error issignificantly reduced, as depicted by the nearly horizontal line 720.

A technology developed after recognizing the problems related to COGmigration with chirp frequency is depicted in FIGS. 10 a-b. Thistechnology uses a modulator to control intensity of the input opticalbeam, combined with a modified AOD power calibration. This combinationproduces a much reduced drift of the COG across frequencies of thechirp. In FIG. 10 a, relative intensity modulation of the input opticalbeam is graphed 1030 against chirp frequency over time. As frequencyincreases, diffractive efficiency decreases and so the base power of thebeam in increased to compensate. As depicted in FIG. 10 b, the relativepower applied to the chirp that drives the AOD decreases with thefrequency to maintain a constant profile 1040. This sharply contrastswith the relative power increase as the chirp frequency increases, tomaintain constant total power equalisation curve 1050 is used. Thisso-called constant profile equalisation combines with relative intensitymodulation of the input optical beam to produce a diffraction of thebeam that has a non- or minimally shifting center of gravity over theeffective frequency range of the chirp that drives the AOD. FIG. 10 cillustrates how the center of gravity is aligned over time across theaperture of the AOD. From time 0.0 μs to time 23.4 μs, the calculateddistribution of intensity across the aperture is centered atapproximately 4.5 mm. The disclosed constant profile equalisationreplaces the shifting COG distribution as illustrated by FIGS. 7 a and 9a with the non- or minimally shifted COG in FIG. 10 c. Additional detailof the COG by time is shown in FIG. 10 d. This figure resembles FIGS. 7b and 9 b, but with a much different scale. The y axis in FIG. 10 dranges over +/−5 μm, which is a much narrower range than the +/−50 or100 μm in the other figures. The unshifted COG 1060 is essentially flatfrom 3-22 μs. Tails at 0 and 23.4 μs can be compensated for to reducethe COG variation 1070, for instance by adjusting the distance betweenthe AOD and telescope, as illustrated in FIG. 17.

Attenuation is frequency dependent. An acoustic power envelope can beused to produce a constant relative diffraction efficiency curve, as adeflection chirp passes through the AOD crystal. The absolutediffraction efficiency will then vary with time. Variation in theabsolute diffraction efficiency can be compensated by varying theoptical power of the incoming (or outgoing) laser beam. The incominglaser beam can pass through a modulator or be modulated at its source. Amodulator can be micromechanical or electro-optical. A typical modulatoris often an acousto-optic modulator. An analog or continuous transferfunction represents how an input signal to the modulator relates to themodulated power of an output beam. By modifying the input, applyingeither a digital value or analog voltage or power, the desiredcompensation producing the desired absolute diffraction efficiency inthe AOM can be accomplished.

The needed power modulation compensation curve can be calculated from amathematical model of the AOD and modulator, but is more accuratelydetermined empirically.

Useful results of combining modified acoustic driving of the AOD withcompensating modified beam power are that the first-order drift of theCOG can be removed and that the scanning beam still has constant powerover the scan. The telecentricity or landing angle is thereby moreconstant for a given range of driving frequency. For a given toleranceof variation in the beam landing angle, the AOD can be driven with awider frequency range, with a higher maximum frequency, which improvesthe length of the scan or alternatively makes faster scanning possible,both giving higher throughput.

One way to combine beam power compensation with patterning data is bymultiplication of the data with compensation prior to modulation. Insome implementations, the pattern data includes a sequence of grayscalepixels (typically converted to analog voltage or current signals with 16or more levels), which can be multiplied by a time-dependent envelopevalue, as illustrated by FIGS. 11 a-c. In FIG. 11 a, a single beam 1100is scanning to write lines, e.g. 1102 and 1103. In previously knowntechnology shown in FIG. 11 b, the data consists of a consecutive set ofpixels 1107, and to each pixel across the aperture 1104-1105 a modulatorvoltage V is assigned to represent the pattern along the scan line 1101.The voltage 1106, 1109 goes between 0 and 100% 1108, corresponding to 0to 100% beam power.

FIG. 11 c illustrates how the modulation may be accomplished. The RFpower applied to the AOD in this example is reduced with time, comparedto what is required for constant diffraction efficiency. The diffractionefficiency is therefore falling with time and has to be compensated inthe beam. FIG. 11 c illustrates adjusting the beam power using amodulator. Data that drives modulation increases the beam power outputfrom the modulator with time. The pixel values V on the vertical axisare conceptually the product 1109 of the rasterized data 1106 and atime-varying envelope function 1110. In reality, the modulator isnon-linear and the pixel value 1111 has to be derived from therasterized data 1107 and the envelope 1110 with knowledge about thenon-linearity of the modulator. FIG. 13 shows an example embodiment of asystem that can implement the correction in FIG. 11 c.

A suitable procedure to adjust the two power variations follows. Theacoustic attenuation is a material constant, such as 16 dB/(μs GHẑ2*μs)for a shear-mode tellurium dioxide AOD at small off-axis angles. A modelcan be built, like the one used for the figures described, and asuitable level of correction can be set. Full compensation of theacoustic attenuation requires a high dynamic range in the modulator andlow optical efficiency, so less than full compensation may be used. Whenthe desired level of compensation has been determined, it is programmedinto the modulator drivers (shown in FIG. 13). After that, the RFdriving power for the AOD can be calibrated across the scan. Finally thepower differences between the beams are measured and corrected byreprogramming of the modulator drivers.

Correcting for Diffraction Efficiency (“DE”) vs. η Angle in a 2D Brush

FIG. 14 a illustrates an acousto-optic deflector 1400 having aninteraction crystal 1401 driven by an RF signal, which is converted intoa field of intense ultrasound waves that are not shown in this figure,but are represented in FIGS. 3 and 19. FIG. 14 a shows that the AOD hasan optical axis 1402 on the input side and a diffracted optical axis1403 on the output side. The in and out axes usually are not parallel toeach other. In the case of a single beam, the direction of the outputbeam depends on the frequency of the RF signal. By using a variablefrequency, the beam can be made to scan in the η direction shown in thefigure. It is known in the art to use a brush (sometimes called a rake)of beams 1405, 1406, 1408, 1409, etc., which enter the AOD underslightly different angles. The beams typically cross in the AOD so theyenter with a span in angles. The beams in the brush cross each other atthe AOD aperture 1411, normally inside the crystal, and exit as asimilar collection of beams 1407, 1410, etc. When the frequency of theRF is changed, the direction of the output beams changes in the ηdirection, but the relative angles between the beams stay constant. Thebrush or rake makes a scanning movement as indicated by the arrow with ahollow head 1404.

In a scanning system intended to have the highest possible quality, itis useful if the beams in the rake are equal in power across the scan.Close analysis has shown that spreading the beams in the ξ direction israther benign. Several beams can be distributed in ξ as shown by thegroup sub-brush “A” that includes spots 1405, 1406, 1407. Those beamsremain closely similar distributed across the scan. See, e.g., 1407. Thesensitivity to angular variation in the η direction has been found to bemuch higher, though. This is particularly true for deflectors usingbirefringent crystals to create high bandwidth. The diffractionefficiency “DE” versus frequency changes rapidly with the input angle ηas illustrated by the pair of lines A-B in FIG. 14 b. The diffractionefficiency, i.e. the power of the output beam at constant RF power, is acomplex function of geometry, crystal properties, transducer resonances,and RF matching. The curve A for the sub-brush is shown by the narrowline in FIG. 14 b. It is typically high enough to be useful between alower frequency f_(I) and an upper frequency f_(u). The thick line Bshows an example DE curve for a beam with a slightly different angle η.

Variation of the AOD RF power vs. frequency helps make the power of thediffracted beam constant vs. frequency. In a writing system it is usefulfor the power of the focused beams hitting the workpiece to be constantacross the scan. As discussed above, using at least one beam modulatorand varying the RF power to the AOD, second-order effects of theacoustic attenuation in the crystal can be minimized for one beam.

FIGS. 12 a-c illustrate a two-dimensional the envelope function thatcorrects for varying incidnet angles of sub brushes A and B. Since thediffraction efficiency is different for different angles η, all beamscannot be perfectly equalized at the same time. We have found that thedifference in diffraction efficiency can be corrected by changing thedata, in particular by conceptually multiplying the data (typicallygrayscale data) by an envelope function, thereby correcting thedifference in diffraction efficiency between the beams, typicallybetween the sub-brushes A and B (1200A-B). FIG. 12 a schematicallydepicts a two-dimensional brush having sub-brushes A and B scanning 1201over a number of vertical lines 1202, 1203, etc. Features shared betweenFIGS. 11 and 12 retain the numbering assigned in FIG. 11. As in FIG. 11,the additional FIG. 12 b illustrates the rasterized grayscale data for asingle beam. In FIG. 12 c, which corresponds to the brush in FIG. 12 a,several things can be seen. First, since the sub-brush B is trailing A,the data is delayed. Depending on the amount of trailing, the pixelsize, and whether or not pixels for sub-brushes A and B are located atthe same coordinates, the grayscale data may or may not be different.FIG. 12 c shows the same data for 1206A and 1206B, only delayed in time.The time delay is also depicted for the boundaries of the aperture1204A-1205A and 1204B-1205B. In order to correct for the difference indiffraction efficiency, depending on the difference in the angle η, thedata streams 1206A-B have been multiplied with two different envelopefunctions 1208A-B. In a further refinement, it is possible to generalizethe scheme in FIG. 12 c and use different envelope functions 1208 foreach beam in the brush 1200, as a way of correcting higher-order errorsresulting from high ξ angles, aberrations, and/or more complex brushes,for instance the brush shown in FIG. 15 d. Then, each beam has adifferent angle η and a slightly different envelope function. Theenvelope functions can be based on calculations from a mathematicalmodel or derived from empirical calibration.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram generally depicting how the correctionscan be implemented in a writer. On the right, the light energypropagates from laser source(s) 1314 to the workpiece 1399, passing inturn through beam splitters 1329 producing a beam brush 1339, multibeammodulator(s) 1349, the AOD scanner 1369 and a lens 1389 for focusing thebrush of beams on the workpiece. A single laser or multiple lasers maybe used to build a brush of beams 1339, which are scanned by a singleAOD. Such multi-laser brushes will be discussed below.

The data is entered, typically in a vector form 1342 such as Gerber,GDSII, or OASIS format data, and rasterized 1343 to a bitmap or similarrepresentation. Similar representations include the segmentrepresentation used in Micronic Laser's Omega mask writers and acompressed or partially fractured format. The bitmap information is thencombined in a data combiner 1345 with information, such as the envelope1110 that describes the power compensation for the acoustic attenuationin the AOD 1364 and/or the information used to improve the equalisationbetween the beams 1366, such as the A and B envelopes 1208A and 1208B inFIG. 12 c. Conceptually, these types of information are envelopefunctions, which are multiplied with the grayscale data 1107. Inpractice, there are non-linearities in the modulator. Refined, ifdesired, to take the non-linearities into account, the multiplicationactually applies a non-linear function 1325. Information about thenon-linearity is stored in memory and used to calculate the correctgrayscale values in a data combiner, most suitably a signal processor,which may be implemented by a general purpose processor or an FPGA.Other representations than those mentioned may be used during theoperations, and the envelope function may be represented differently,e.g. as logarithms, with the same result of removing negative effects ofthe acoustic attenuation and η-dependence in the AOD. When themodulators 1349 are SLM mirrors operating in a diffraction mode, drivingthe modulators may be implemented using a digital-to-analog converter(DAC) 1347.

FIG. 15 a shows how a complex brush can be assembled using light fromthree lasers. Combining beams, as in FIG. 15 a, is useful. First, itincreases the writing speed in a writer that has power-limitedthroughput. By forming a brush with light from two or more lasers, thepower deposited on the workpiece may be increased in an otherwiseunchanged writer. Second, it increases the writing throughput in awriter that is limited by the pixel rate, i.e. by the modulationfrequency of the beams and the number of beams that can be fitted insidethe optical field of the writer.

In FIG. 15 a, beams from three lasers are combined. In the laser arms,there are a beam splitter BS and a multibeam modulator M. The beams arecombined in the beam combiner BC. The resulting brush combines thebrushes from all of the laser sub-brushes with separated beams.

There are two possibilities in regard to interference in a combinedbrush. Beams from a single laser normally interfere, and the spots onthe workpiece must be separated enough to make any overlap between thespots negligible. Beams from two lasers may be interfering if the lasershave the same frequency, e.g. if they are emanating from continuous gasor solid state lasers. They may not interfere if they have a slightfrequency difference, such as that between different semiconductorlasers where the wavelength depends on the stoichiometry of the lasercrystal.

The frequency difference needed for non-interference is very small, e.g.the pixel clock frequency or higher. At a difference of approximatelytwice the pixel clock, the phase will vary between the two beams byapproximately 4π in each pixel, essentially averaging out anyinterference. A larger difference will give even better averaging ofbeating effects, and a difference of exactly N times the pixel clockfrequency (N=1,2,3 . . . ) will also give efficient suppression ofinterference. Alternatively, a frequency difference can be created witha frequency shifter, such as an acousto-optic frequency shifter.Suitable frequency shifters are commercially available from BrimroseCorporation of America (Maryland, USA), Laser 2000 (Germany), and othercompanies.

As illustrated, the combined beams create a brush in which some beamscome from one laser and others from another laser, rather than addingthe power from the lasers into a superimposed beam. Since the beams arewriting different pixels in the same pattern, it is useful that there isno drift in the position of the beams.

FIG. 15 a shows a beam alignment camera BAC, which detects any drift inthe beams' positions. In the arms of the laser source, there arepointing actuators PA1, PA2, PA3, which are controlled by at least onealignment camera. The pointing actuators bring the beams back intoalignment if they stray. The beam alignment camera has optics to make apicture of the magnified brush on an image sensor. The center of gravityof each beam is determined from the image and compared to the desiredbeam positions. Detected errors are corrected by tilting mirrors,shifting lenses, rotating wedges, or manipulating similar structures.The camera also can be used to calibrate the power in each beam byproviding feedback to the modulator for the beam. The beams are set to aseries of nominal powers and the integrated power detected for each spotis determined for each nominal power. Corrections to the nominal powersettings are calculated and the nominal settings are corrected. Theprocedure is repeated until the desired accuracy is obtained. Thecorrected settings give the non-linearity data used in the data combiner1345 in FIG. 13. The non-linearity of the modulators, including anyeffects of the electronic system, DACs, etc., can be empiricallydetermined with the beam alignment camera.

FIGS. 15 b-g show a variety of brush designs. The optical system, inparticular the entrance side of the AOD, has a limited field, shown as adashed frame in FIG. 15 d. In the scanning direction indicated in eachfigure by an arrow with hollow head, the useful optical field is mainlydetermined by the diffraction efficiency (FIG. 14 b) and may be extendedfrom a field holding only a single row of beams (FIGS. 15 b and 15 f) toa somewhat larger field with room for 2D brushed (FIGS. 15 c, d, e andg) through compensation of the variation in DE between beams by themethods explained in FIG. 12. In the perpendicular direction, it islimited by aberrations, mainly distortion. For throughput, it isadvantageous to have as many spots as possible within the field, butspots which interfere cannot be separated by less than the distance “s,”which is the minimum safe distance for interfering beams, or else therewill be interference crosstalk that creates beating and strong noise inthe beam power, thereby reducing the pattern fidelity.

The measure of the minimum safe distance “s” relates to the Full-WidthHalf-Maximum (FWHM) profile or, alternatively, the 1/ê2 radius of thebeam. These are standard measures of optical beams. For a Gaussian beam,both the FWHM 1/ê2 measures can be expressed as a beam radius ordiameter. The FWHM is the beam diameter at which the optical intensityof the beam drops to half the axial optical intensity of the beam.Similarly, the 1/ê2 radius of the beam is the beam radius at which theoptical intensity of the beam has dropped to 13.6% of the beam's axialoptical intensity. For Gaussian beams, the FWHM beam diameter is 1.18times the 1/ê2 Gaussian beam radius. Encyclopedia of Laser Physics andTechnology, “Beam Radius” accessed atwww.rp-photonics.com/beam_radius.html.

Using the 1/ê2 beam radius which we call the “e-radius”, we define thecenter-to-center “safe distance” for Gaussian beams to be at least 4*eradius. At this safe distance, flying spots projected by the beam areconsidered and defined to not interfere. In some applications,especially high precision application, spacing of 1.25*safe distance maybe preferred.

For non-Gaussian beams, the safe distance is defined in relation to theISO Standard 11146, so-called D4σ method. Applying this method, onobtains 4 times the standard deviation of the intensity distribution.This gives the same result as the “e-radius” for Gaussian beams. Ibid.Applied to non-Gaussian beams, center-to-center separation of 4*D4σdistance is considered and defined to be a safe distance.

Overlap in time can be measured using a FWHM pulse duration. First andsecond flying spots are considered and defined not to overlap in time ifthe second spot follows the first in time by at least 3.39*FWHM pulseduration. This separation in time can be measured pulse center to pulsecenter or in an equivalent fashion. For some high precisionapplications, it may be preferred to separate pulses in time by at least4.24*FWHM pulse duration.

Without the method of FIG. 12, the brush may look like in FIG. 15 b: asingle row of spots. With the compensations in FIG. 12, it is possibleto add a second row of trailing spots B to the first row A, asschematically depicted in FIG. 15 c. It may also be possible to havemore than two rows without sacrificing quality. With two staggered rows,as in FIG. 15 c, the distance between rows of pixels in the x directionis s/2, and the number of spots in the field has been doubled. To avoidinterference between coherent beams the staggered row B is placed at adistance from row A that makes the distances between all spots at least“s.”

FIG. 15 d shows a more complex brush with three rows and spots in ahexagonal pattern around a center spot. This figure illustrates thatevery beam may have a unique ξ coordinate and the methods of FIG. 12 canbe used to equalize all of them. The distance between the written pixelsin FIG. 15 d is approximately 0.32 s. With individual equalisation foreach spot, the number of possible complex brushes is without bounds.Furthermore, the brush in FIG. 15 d can be decomposed into sub-brushesin many ways.

FIG. 15 e shows the same brush as FIG. 15 c, but the different hatchingindicates that sub-brushes emanate from two different lasers, therebyhaving twice as much power as in FIG. 15 c. The beams are positioned toavoid potential interference between the pair of lasers, and the minimumdistance “s” is respected.

In FIG. 15 f, three non-interfering lasers are used. The sub-brushes canbe placed with the spots arbitrarily close, because the beams arenon-interfering. FIG. 15 f solves a problem of too little power or toofew pixels written per second by using two or more lasers with afrequency difference large enough to even out interference crosstalk inevery pixel, even without extension of the field by the method of FIG.12. The lasers can be three semiconductor lasers selected to haveslightly different frequencies, or they can be three lasers havingessentially the same frequency, but frequency-shifted by a few hundredMHz from one another. For instance, in a system having a pixel clock of100 MHz, one laser can be shifted by +200 MHz and another by −200 MHzfrom a central beam frequency. Furthermore, if the problem to be solvedis too few pixels per second but the power is adequate, it is possibleto split a single laser into three (or generally N) beams,frequency-shifting two (or more) of them and forming the brush in FIG.15 f from three (or more) sub-brushes.

If a single pulsed laser is used, which has sufficiently short pulses,it is also possible to remove interference crosstalk by time-shiftingarrival of the beams. Time-shifting can be accomplished by routing partsof the beam over different paths with different path lengths, so thatarrival of the pulses at the workpiece surface does not overlap in time.For instance, with a pulse length of 1 nsec, the pulse length is about300 mm. Three sub-brushes with a 1 meter difference in path length canbe combined as in FIG. 15 f to form a brush. The minimum distancebetween sub-brushes can be smaller than the safe distance “s,” becausethe separation in time avoids interference or coherent crosstalk amongsub-brushes.

Finally, in FIG. 15 g non-interfering sub-brushes, as in FIG. 15 f, areused, with the methods of FIG. 12 applied to make each sub-brushtwo-dimensional. The depicted positions of individual brush beamsrespect the minimum distance “s.” The result is six times the density ofthe simple brush in FIG. 15 b, six times more pixels per second and, ifseparate lasers are used for the three sub-brushes, three times higherpower.

FIG. 16 shows the generation of the same complex brush as FIG. 15 a,except that a single laser is used to form the three (two or more)sub-brushes. The laser light is split, for instance, by semitransparentmirrors. The lower and upper paths 1 and 2 apply frequency shifters tothe split portions of the beam. FIG. 16 also shows different pathlengths from the laser to the beam combiner BC, which can be used tomake beams consisting of short pulses non-interfering. If short pulsesare used, the frequency shifters can be omitted. FIG. 16 is primarily asolution to the problem of too few pixels per second, as splitting outpart of one laser does not increase the power available. Complex brushesas shown in FIG. 15 g can be created using a single laser source. Whensub-brushes are formed by beams split from the same laser, pointingerrors in the laser have less importance since they only generatecommon-mode errors, e.g. shifts in the entire patterns. With a singlelaser source, the beam alignment camera BAC and painting actuator PA1-3may or may not be necessary, depending on the stability of the opticalsystem and the required pattern quality.

One can describe parts of this technology as follows. The problem ofeffective power equalisation across chirp frequencies applied to drivean AOD, particularly when a wide bandwidth is used, can be solved byrecognizing occurrence of a center of gravity shift in the diffractedinput optical beam that impacts telecentricity when the AOD operateswith high frequency modulation. Having recognized this subtle problemduring design studies for an innovative, high bandwidth AOD, oneproceeds by applying a relative intensity modulation to a beam ofradiation before it reaches the AOD, or alternatively after. Then, byapplying a complementary AOD power calibration across frequencies usedto drive the AOD, the combination of the relative intensity modulationand the complementary AOD power calibration generates a non- orminimally shifting center of gravity of the diffracted beam over thescan by the AOD.

FIG. 17 depicts combining 2 AOMs. It is a schematic of how to combinetwo multibeam AOMs. The upper part of the figure shows a cross-sectionparallel to the AOM, in the so-called X-direction. The lower part showsa cross-section perpendicular to the AOM, in the so-called Y-direction.

FIG. 18 illustrates a sample system embodying some of the technologydisclosed. In a sample system, the laser is a 413 nm Kr-Ion continuouslaser. A minimum of 22 writing beams are used. Two modulators aredepicted. The NA of final lens is 0.70. The pixel size is about 175 nmin X and Y. Multi-pass writing is used, with writing on the returnstroke or bi-directional writing. The optical path has a constantoptical path length. With 22 beams, the estimated throughput is 685square mm per minute.

The invention is further described in relation to FIGS. 19-25. The insetin FIG. 19 shows a simplified acousto-optic deflector, consisting of acrystal 1905 and a transducer 1903 for converting an RF signal 1901 toultrasound and injecting this acoustic wave into the crystal.

The acousto-optic crystal may be TeO2 which has transparency into the UVand a very slow sound propagation in the shear mode. Low acousticpropagation speed gives smaller apertures at a given bandwidth productB* T proportional to the number of pixels resolved along a scan line. Tis the time it takes for the ultrasound to travel across the aperture.TeO2 is further optically active, a fact which is often used to increasethe bandwidth in devices made in the material. Similar properties can befound in other materials such as certain mercury compounds, but so farTeO2 is the industrially dominating material in the violet and shorterwavelengths.

A real deflector may be more complicated in the sense that it may be cutoff axis to exploit the optical activity and the sound column maypropagate at an angle to the transducer. Off-axis AODs are known in theart. One advantage of off-axis AODs is that the bandwidth can be madewider and the acoustic attenuation may be less at an off-axis angle thanalong a crystal direction. The transducer may consist of a singleultrasound emitter or several, and the emitters may possibly be drivenwith phase delays between them to enhance the diffraction efficiencyover an extended frequency band (“beam steering”).

The deflector in FIG. 19 further has a mask 1907 defining a clearaperture 1906. The crystal may be larger than the aperture, as shown inthe figure where the crystal is 6 mm long, and the aperture is 4 mm. Theslow-shear mode in TeO2 propagates at 0.64 mm/μs independent of thefrequency. Thus the aperture time T in the shown example is4/0.0.64=6.25 μs.

The acoustic wave propagating in the crystal is attenuated by 16dB/(GHẑ2*μs) on axis and significantly less in off-axis configurations.The diagram in FIG. 19 shows the attenuation of power injected from thetransducer depending on the frequency from 150 to 300 MHz. The graphsare computed for an off-axis cut with 6 dB/(GHẑ2*μs). In a real crystalthis would give a strongly oblique propagation inside the crystal, whichfor simplicity is not shown in the inset.

Note that the graphs in FIG. 19 do not show instantaneous power profilesthrough the crystal. How such profiles can be determined is shown inFIG. 20. For each position in the crystal, the sound wave is delayed bythe time it has taken to propagate to that position. The transducer isnormally driven by a nearly linear rising chirp, i.e. a frequency whichstarts low and rises by essentially the same amount per microsecond,e.g. 10 MHz/μs. A falling chirp is also possible, but is less oftenused. The methods disclosed in this application also apply to caseswhere the chirp is falling, with appropriate adaption. The frequenciesin the crystal are shown in FIG. 20. Each line corresponds to oneinstance in time. From the start of the chirp until just before 6.25 μsthe transition from the previous chirp, i.e. the jump from high to lowfrequency 2055, is visible in the aperture, represented by the dashedlines. From 6.25 μs till the beginning of the next chirp 2011 a-b, thefrequency curves have no discontinuity and the deflector can be used forscanning a light beam, e.g., 2091 a-b.

In FIG. 21 power equalisation is applied to the RF. The instantaneouspower profile is found by connecting the points showing the frequencyand the remaining power at each point, thick dashed lines. The lines Aand B show power profiles early and late in the scanning cycle.Equalisation in this context means a cyclic variation of the RF powerdelivered to the AOD, i.e. a variation depending on time during the scancycle or, equivalently, on the RF frequency. The equalisation in FIG. 21is for constant power in the diffracted beam as used in prior art.

Equalisation corrects for three different effects. There is animpedance-matching network between the RF input and the transducer, andthe transducer has a frequency-dependent efficiency, e.g. due tomechanical resonances and attenuation. The first effect the powerequalisation corrects for is this rather complex frequency dependence ofthe coupling efficiency from RF power to acoustic wave power. The secondeffect to correct for is the crystal efficiency, i.e. the frequencydependence of the coupling from acoustic power to diffracted lightpower. The third is the effects of acoustic attenuation. To simplify thedescription of the invention, we will assume that both RF matching andcrystal efficiency are unity, i.e. lossless, and we will only describethe third part of the equalisation. We will later show that the RFmatching and diffraction efficiency can be measured and calibrated for,and that the acoustic attenuation can be dealt with analytically.

Prior art equalisation aims to make the optical beam being diffractedand scanned have constant power during the scan. Before theinstantaneous power profiles A and B have been determined in FIG. 21,the RF power has been varied as a function of frequency, so that theacoustic power is frequency independent at the center of the aperture.Since the scanned beam typically is a Gaussian laser beam with most ofthe power close to the center of the aperture, this very nearly makesthe beam have nearly constant power over the scan. There is a smallsecond-order power variation due to the curvature of A and B, which maybe neglected here for the sake of the discussion.

The power in the diffracted beam across the aperture early (dashed curveA) and late (curve B) can be determined in the following way: Thefrequency chirp starts at the lowest frequency, here 150 MHz. The timespan when the deflector may be used for scanning a beam with high puritystarts when the lowest frequency of 150 MHz has reached the far end ofthe aperture in FIG. 21. At this instant in time, the ultrasound wave atthe center of the aperture has a frequency 180 MHz. At the left end ofthe aperture, near the transducer, the frequency is 210 MHz. Each ofthese frequencies is sent out from the transducer to have the powernormalized to 100% when the ultrasound wave reaches the center point ofthe aperture. The graph shows how each frequency from 150 to 300 MHz insteps of 15 MHz is emitted by the transducer and attenuated as ittravels along the crystal. The dashed line “A” connects points (210,195, 180, 165, 150 MHz) across the length of the aperture at the startof the scanning cycle. At different positions the chirp has differentfrequencies. The power of a chirp at a particular position in thecrystal depends on the emitted power for each frequency, the distancetravelled, and the attenuation for the frequency. The instantaneouspower profile B at the end of the scan cycle is determined in the sameat the instant in time when the highest frequency just reaches the nearedge of the aperture, the point marked 300. Five points across theaperture at a particular instant in time experience driving frequenciesof 300, 285, 270, 255, and 240 MHz. In the graph, curve “B” connectsthese points.

Curves A and B have different slopes. If a Gaussian beam is sent intothe deflector and centered to the aperture, the higher acoustic power atthe beginning of the aperture (to the left in FIG. 21) will cause a skewin the diffracted beam, so that the left side will have more power thanthe right side and the peak will shift to the left. It will appear thatthe exit beam comes from a position slightly left of the center. Therewill also be some amount of aberrations of the beam, but this willnormally be less important than the shift. If the scanning beam is usedin a telecentric high precision writing or measuring system, theapparent beam shift will be seen as a telecentricity error. The beam isshifted from the optical axis in the aperture plane of the final lens,and there will be a geometric shift of the image sideways through focus.In microlithographic pattern generators, it is useful to correct thiserror to avoid lateral misplacement of the written patterns.

Both curves A and B cause apparent lateral shifts in the diffractedbeams, but with unequal amounts. A constant shift can often becompensated by fine tuning, e.g. by counter-shifting the beam cominginto the AOD. But varying shifts over the scan are more objectionable.In this example, there is more apparent shift at the end of the scan (B)than at the beginning (A). This will mean that if the scan is calibratedto have the correct length at perfect focus, the scan will be longer atone value of (unintentional and unavoidable) defocus and shorter at theopposite value of defocus.

A commonly used design rule for AOD scanners in prior art is that thehighest used frequency is the one where the acoustic attenuation is 3 dBacross the aperture. FIG. 21 is drawn with the assumptions that theaperture is 4 mm, the velocity of sound is 0.64 mm/μs, and the acousticattenuation is 6 dB/(GHẑ2*μs). This design gives 3 dB attenuation acrossthe aperture at 282 MHz or close to the 300 MHz curve. The example AODin FIG. 21 is therefore at the limit of what is possible using prior artin a material with 6 dB/(GHẑ2*μs), e.g. TeO2 at a rather high off-axisangle.

FIG. 22 shows the instantaneous unequalized acoustic power across theaperture of the example AOD. In this figure, no equalisation is applied.RF matching and crystal efficiency are assumed perfect. For simplicity,the distance from the transducer to the beginning of the aperture hasbeen assumed to be zero. The solid lines show times when the AOD can beused for scanning a laser beam, and the dotted lines times when the jumpfrom high to low frequency between two chirps 2255 is visible in theaperture.

FIG. 23 shows constant power equalisation following prior art. With thisequalisation the power in the scanning beam is nearly constant over thescan. The top graph shows how the RF power increases with increasingfrequency during the chirp. Since the attenuation from the transducer tothe center of the AOD aperture grows with increasing frequency, theemitted ultrasound power increases with increasing frequency. With thisequalisation, the modulator is simply driven with pattern data. If thepattern data is binary, the modulator switches between full on and fulloff. For grayscale data, the modulator modulates each pixel to its grayvalue. The remaining problem with this constant power equalisation asused in prior art is that the diffracted power across the aperture has aslope that varies with time, giving telecentricity errors, aberrationsand a focus-dependent scan length.

Advanced Power Calibration

FIG. 24 shows the same AOD as in FIGS. 22-23 but with the novel advancedequalisation method. The prior art equalisation objective to make thediffracted power beam constant over the scan as in FIG. 23 has beenabandoned. The equalisation aims to reduce the time variation of theslope of the diffracted power across the AOD aperture. The top graph ofFIG. 24 shows that the equalisation curve is the opposite of the curvein FIG. 23 with RF power falling when the frequency rises. The bottomdiagram in FIG. 24 shows the power across the aperture for differenttimes. The logarithmic scale using decibels shows a constant relativeshape better than a linear scale when the average power of the curvesare different. It is seen that the shape of each curve is similar butthat the power at the center of the aperture is falling with time.Compare 2451 a to 2491 a. Thus, there is no varying telecentricity orscan length, but instead the power varies over the scan. In order toflatten the power the data modulator in series with the AOD is drivenwith modified data that contains a compensation for the varyingdiffraction efficiency of the AOD. In particular, the transmission ofthe modulator is made to increase with time, so that the white level ofthe printed pattern is constant over the scan.

Equalisation in the RF driving of the AOD is changed to use both the RFpower and the modulation of scanning laser beam power. Two conditionscan be achieved at the same time, namely constant beam power over thescan on the workpiece and constant profile in the deflector. The lattercan be more or less ambitious and aim for a reduced variation of theslope, no variation at all, or no slope at all in the power profiles inthe AOD. Setting a high goal, such as no slope at all, has a higher costin the sense that the equalisation will use a larger range of RF powerand the modulator consequently will need to allocate more of its dynamicrange to equalisation. The optical transmittance of the system will alsobe much less (more laser power lost in AOD and modulator) if fullcancelling of the slopes in the power curves is sought. In a practicalcase it is more likely that a moderate amount of equalisation of thepower curves as in FIG. 24 is used. The remaining apparent lateraldisplacement of the diffracted beam may then be compensated by a slightshift in the position of the incoming beam.

The advanced equalisation in FIG. 24 has the purpose of improvingwriting quality by reducing telecentricity errors, aberrations andvarying scan length. FIG. 25 shows the same crystal as in FIG. 24, butequalized between 300 and 600 MHz in order to increase the writingthroughput. The slopes of the power profiles are made reasonablyconstant over the scan, but the amount of equalisation is much higher(top diagram); likewise, a much larger part of the modulator dynamicrange is consumed to bring the beam power back to constant over thescan. The optical transmission is low, less than 10%, since either theAOD or the modulator is driven to low transmission. The example showsthat theoretically a very high improvement of the upper frequency ispossible. Since the bandwidth and writing speed of the system areessentially proportional to the upper frequency, the system in FIG. 25writes twice as fast as the one in FIG. 24. Except for the loss inoptical efficiency, there is no reason why the AOD in FIG. 25 should notgive a high-quality scanned laser beam at twice the writing speed of aconventionally drive AOD.

The useful scan length is proportional to the bandwidth product of theAOD, i.e. to BT where B is the bandwidth and T the aperture time. TheAOD in FIG. 24 has B=150 MHz, T=6.25 μs and BT is 937 spots. The AOD inFIG. 25 has B=300 MHz, T=6.25 μs and BT is 1874 spots. If the system inFIG. 25 is scaled back to 150-300 MHz, a much larger aperture with T=25μs can be used with the equalisation functions staying the same and BTbecomes 3750 spots. The throughput is proportional to the bandwidth B,150, 300, and 150 MHz in the three cases. Therefore, the advancedequalisation presented in this application is shown to give reducedwriting errors, higher throughput, and/or longer scan lines.

Calibrating the Equalisation Function.

As described above, the RF equalisation corrects for three effects:first, the RF properties of the driver, cable, impedance matchingnetwork, and transducer; second, the crystal efficiency; and third, theacoustic attenuation. The first part, from RF source to mechanical wavein the crystal is complex and contains contributions of a practicalnature, such as resonances in the transducer and spurious reflections inthe cabling. The second part, the crystal efficiency, can be calculatedtheoretically, but is more easily empirically calibrated. It alsodepends on the angle of incidence in the AOD. In a multibeam systemwhere several beams are independently modulated but scanned by the sameAOD, the second part may have small differences between the beams, inparticular between beams with different angles in the scanningdirection. The third part of the equalisation is easily describedtheoretically since the acoustic attenuation is constant per (GHẑ2*μs)and the travelling times are independent of the frequency.

A functional and practical method for calibrating the equalisation can,therefore, be described as follows.

First, the modulator equalisation for each channel is set to equal andconstant values. The beam power for a typical diffracted beam (or alldiffracted beams together) is measured and the RF power is equalised forconstant power over the scan. Now the RF and beam-average crystalefficiency are calibrated. The needed equalisation for the desiredreduction of slopes of the power profiles in the AOD apertures iscalculated as shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 24. The RF power equalisation ischanged by the calculated difference between the equalisations in FIG.24 and FIG. 23, if FIG. 24 depicts the equalisation desired. Thecalculation needs only the velocity of speed and the acousticattenuation per (GHẑ2*μs), both of which are constant for the materialand a particular deflector design and can be measured in the lab.Finally, the white level in each beam is equalized by the multiplicationof the data by a beam equalisation function, so that each beam hasconstant power over the scan and all beams have equal power. After thiscalibration all beams have the same white level, and the desiredequalisation for beam quality, scan length and throughput.

Useful Implementations of the Technology Disclosed

Features of the technology disclosed, which may qualify as separateinventions, include:

-   -   Using the modulator and RF power to increase the useable        frequency range of an AOD.    -   Using the modulator to widen the optical field of the AOD to        make room for a two-dimensional brush without sacrificing        writing quality.    -   A writer with hardware and software for accomplishing the two        preceding features.    -   Getting more power by forming the brush with two or more lasers.    -   Making a denser brush by adding sub-brushes that do not        interfere, because they either do not overlap in frequency or do        not overlap in time.    -   Using beam alignment detectors controlling beam alignment servos        to bring the sub-brushes into alignment.

The diffraction efficiency of an AOD varies with the frequency and angleof incidence. The efficiency is large when there is good phase matchingbetween the ingoing and outgoing (diffracted) beams and the soundcolumn. The angle of incidence in the scanning direction is often calledthe “Bragg angle” since, in simple media such as fused silica, glass, orwater the phase matching can be described with a Bragg condition betweenthe sound and the ingoing light.

Modern AODs are physically more complex. The medium is normally acrystal which is birefringent and in many important cases opticallyactive (same as birefringent with circular states or “circularbirefringent”). In materials like tellurium dioxide, which is thedominating material for blue to near UV deflectors, and which is bothcrystalline and circular birefringent, there is a slow shear wave whichcan be used to get high diffraction efficiency and large diffractionangles. When a crystal is cut with an off-axis angle (i.e. 5-15degrees), the diffraction efficiency curve has two peaks and gives fourtimes the RF bandwidth of a similar AOD without circular birefringenceand off-axis design. See, e.g., Jieping Xu and Robert Stroud,“Acousto-Optic Devices: Principles, Design, and Applications”, pp.344-61 (Wiley-Interscience June 1992).

All AODs are sensitive to the angle of incidence in the scanningdirection, to satisfy the Bragg condition by incidence at the Braggangle. The off-axis AODs have a wide field over which the diffractedbeam can be steered, but the input field has essentially zero extensionin the scanning direction. Any change in the Bragg angle leads to achange in the diffraction efficiency curve and leads to uneven poweralong the scan line on the workpiece.

Two beams with different Bragg angles have different diffractionefficiency over the scan and varying power on the workpiece. Prior arthas either neglected the problem, see US (Ted Whitney, RE 33,931) orused multiple beams spread out only in the perpendicular direction(Micronic Prexision 8). The present invention enables the use of morebeams in precision writing, and therefore higher throughput, byrecognizing the effects of beam-to-beam varying Bragg angles and addinga beam-to-beam correction by separate modifications of the base powersof the beams.

The base power of a beam may be seen as the white level that the beamcan write. If the raster data has grayscale data, it may vary between100% (white) and 0% (black) of the base power, and an area filled with100% is white in the pattern. The base power can be adjusted at thelight source, by a separate modulator or attenuation device or combinedin a modulator. It is practical to combine the modulation with rasterdata with a time-varying modification of the base power of each beam ina single modulation step, e.g. in the same modulator driven by theelectrical voltage or current signal from a digital-to-analog converter(DAC). The raster data and the modification of the base power of thebeam can be combined in the digital input to the DAC.

The technology disclosed makes faster and more accurate writing possibleby enabling that more pixels per second to be written to the workpiece.More pixels per second can be translated to speed, image fidelity orreliability, or a combination thereof. With a faster writing system,more area can be filled with pixels per second, thus giving higherthroughput in mm̂2 per second at the same resolution and image quality,or if the pixels are made smaller and the optics configured for higheroptical resolution, a finer pattern can be written at the same mm̂2 persecond.

More pixels per second makes it possible to use more redundant writing,e.g. by writing two passes in the time of one pass, or by writing thepixels with more mutual overlap. In either case, there is a reduction ingrid artifacts and a hiding of local errors. A faulty pixel is lessvisible, and the visibility of systematic errors is effectively reducedby multiple passes. Since errors are less visible, a writing machine mayoccasionally continue to be used, even in the presence of imperfectionsor malfunctions which would force a system with less redundancy to stop.

The number of pixels that can be written per second is given by thenumber of beams and the modulation rate of each beam. The modulationrate is largely limited by the crystal physics, e.g. the RF frequencyrange over which the AOD can function. After having pushed themodulation rate to the limit of possibility, the number of beams is theonly parameter to work on.

In prior art the beams were spread out in a one-dimensional brushoriented perpendicular to the direction of deflection. The maximumallowable angle is given by the crystal optics, and the minimum spacingby the smallest distance on the workpiece over which beams do notdisturb each other, i.e. do not interfere. In Micronic Mydata'sPrexision-8 writer, 11 beams are spread out in a one-dimensional brushwith all beams having the same Bragg angle.

The current invention makes possible a two-dimensional brush, e.g.including 2, 3, 4, 5, . . . , n staggered 11-beam 1D sub-brushes for atotal of 22, 33, 44, 55, . . . , 11*n beams. The distance between anytwo beams is larger than the minimum distance for avoidance ofinterference (“the safe distance”), but the 2D brush draws a set of scanlines where adjacent lines are closer than the safe distance, e.g. 2, 3,4, 5, . . . , n times smaller. There is a limited angle range over whichthe AOD can scan the beams, and the 2D brush consumes some amount of thescanning angle, but in a typical case it is only on the order of 1-2% ofthe scan length. Therefore, the pixel rate is approximately proportionalto the number of beams.

Some Particular Embodiments

The present invention may be practiced as a method or device adapted topractice the method.

One method of implementation forms a dense brush of interleaved flyingspots on the workpiece using optics that have a minimum separationdistance among flying spots projected onto a workpiece that makesadjoining coherent beams non-interfering. This method includes forming afirst brush of flying spots of coherent radiation with a firstseparation among the first flying spots when projected onto theworkpiece that is as large as or larger than the minimum separationdistance, and similarly forming a second brush of flying spots ofcoherent radiation with a second separation among the second flyingspots when projected onto the workpiece that is as large as or largerthan the minimum separation distance. This method is characterized bythe further action of interleaving the first and second brushes ofmultiple coherent flying spots where the distance between individualflying spots in the first brush and individual flying spots in thesecond brush when projected onto the workpiece is less than the minimumseparation distance, wherein the first flying spots are conditioned tonot interfere with the second flying spots.

Many options are available for enhancing this method. The followingoptions can be used in any combination, as if they were described bymultiply dependent claims depending from other multiply dependentclaims.

In the method described, the first and second flying spots can beconditioned not to interfere by forming the flying spots from differentfirst and second coherent sources. Or, they can be conditioned not tointerfere by forming the flying spots from coherent sources ateffectively different frequencies. To achieve different frequencies, oneor more frequency modifiers or shifters are used to modify the frequencyof one or more of the coherent sources. Beams from a single coherentsource can be conditioned to different frequencies using frequencymodifiers or shifters, whether or not the coherent sources share acommon laser source.

Alternatively, the first and second flying spots may be short pulsesthat are conditioned not to interfere by travelling over different pathlengths from a common coherent source, whereby the short pulses of thefirst and second flying spots do not overlap in time when projected ontothe workpiece. In some implementations other methods may be used tosuppress interference, e.g. opposite polarisations or fast modulation,such as electro-optical phase-shifting at high-frequency.

In addition to these options, the other features described in moredetail above can be combined with these options in any of thecombinations described or suggested.

These methods can be implemented in corresponding devices, such as amicrolithographic writer that produces a dense brush of interleavedflying spots using optics that have a minimum separation distance amongflying spots projected onto a workpiece that makes adjoining coherentbeams non-interfering. In one implementation, the writer includes firstand second sources of coherent radiation and an optical path that relaysthe coherent radiation onto a workpiece, forming flying spots. Thewriter includes at least one brush forming element, such as adiffractive optical element described by Sjöström, in the optical paththat separates the coherent radiation into first and second brushes offlying spots of coherent radiation, each with a separation among theflying spots in the respective brushes, when projected onto theworkpiece, that is as large as or larger than the minimum separationdistance. This writer is characterized by one or more optical combiningelements positioned in the optical path to interleave the first andsecond brushes of flying spots where the distance between individualflying spots in the first brush and individual flying spots in thesecond brush when projected onto the workpiece is less than the minimumseparation distance, and a beam conditioner in the optical path thatconditions the first flying spots of coherent radiation to not interferewith the second flying spots of coherent radiation.

Many options are available for enhancing this writer. The followingoptions can be used in any combination, as if they were described bymultiply dependent claims depending from other multiply dependentclaims.

The writer may include separate lasers or light-emitting diodes as thefirst and second sources of coherent radiation. The first and secondsources of coherent radiation operate at effectively differentfrequencies. At least one laser or LED used to produce the first andsecond sources of coherent radiation may be directed through at leastone frequency modifier in the optical path that modifies the frequencyof one or more of the coherent sources.

In one implementation, the writer uses a pulsed laser to produce thefirst and second sources of coherent radiation. Two optical paths ofdifferent lengths are provided for the first and second sources ofcoherent radiation. Pulses from the pulsed laser are shorter in lengththan the difference in length of the two optical paths for the first andsecond sources of coherent radiation. As a result, the short pulsestravelling the two optical paths do not overlap in time when projectedonto the workpiece.

In addition to these options, the other features described in moredetail above can be combined with these options in any of thecombinations described or suggested.

Another method forms a dense brush of interleaved flying spots on aworkpiece using a combination of an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) todeflect beams used to produce the flying spots in a first angulardirection and a modulator to modulate the power of each beam. Thismethod includes forming a first angular brush of beams going into theAOD by separating and spreading a first source beam into a plurality offirst beams, wherein the first beams are spread parallel to a firstaxis, and forming a second angular brush of beams going into the AOD byseparating and spreading a second source beam into a plurality of secondbeams, wherein the second beams are spread parallel to the first axis.From the first and second angular brushes, a two-dimensional angularbrush is formed with an offset between the brushes along a second axisgenerally perpendicular to the first axis. The method further includesdriving the AOD with a chirped RF signal and a varying RF power, whereinthe varying RF power controls the average diffraction efficiency of thebeams in the AOD, and applying a time-varying modification of the basepowers of individual beams in the first and second angular brushes tocorrect for beam-to-beam differences in diffraction efficiency due toBragg-angle differences resulting from the angular spread of beamsparallel to the first axis.

Several options apply to this and the prior method. The method mayfurther include modulating each of the beams with pattern data andrelaying the pattern modulated beams to the workpiece, forming scanlines. Applying this method, there may be a minimum separation distance(“safe distance”) between flying spots projected on the workpiece thatmakes adjacent beams of an angular brush non-interfering. Then, themethod may further include separating the beams of the angular brush bymore than the safe distance along the first axis and staggering thefirst and second angular brushes such that the scanned lines on theworkpiece are separated by less than the safe distance.

For each of the methods and devices, the modulation of base power andthe modulation with raster data can be applied to a beam using the samemodulator. For instance, this may be controlled by an electric signalfrom a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Modification of the base powerand rasterized pattern data can be combined in the digital input to theDAC.

In some implementations, the AOD uses a crystalline interaction medium.An interaction medium may have a circular birefringence and/or anoff-axis design. The interaction medium may be tellurium dioxide.

Again, the other features described in more detail above can be combinedwith these options in any of the combinations described or suggested.

Corresponding to this further method is a microlithographic writer thatproduces a dense brush of interleaved flying spots on a workpiece, whichincludes first and second sources of coherent radiation, an optical paththat relays the coherent radiation onto a workpiece, forming flyingspots, and an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) that deflects beams in afirst angular direction. The writer further includes one or moremodulators that modulate the power of each beam and at least one brushforming element in the optical path that separates the coherentradiation into first and second angular brushes of flying spots ofcoherent radiation, wherein the flying spots in each brush are spreadparallel to a first axis. It also includes a beam combiner in theoptical path that combines the first and second angular brushes with anoffset along a second axis generally perpendicular to the first axis. AnAOD driving circuit is coupled to the AOD and produces a chirped drivingsignal and a varying driving power. This varying driving power controlsthe average diffraction efficiency of the beams in the AOD. Themodulators apply a time-varying modification of base powers toindividual beams in the first and second angular brushes to correct forbeam-to-beam differences in diffraction efficiency due to Bragg-angledifferences resulting from the angular spread of beams parallel to thefirst axis.

Among the options applicable in varying combinations to this writer, themodulators may combine the time-varying modification of the base powerswith pattern data.

There may be a minimum separation distance (“safe distance”) betweenflying spots projected on the workpiece that makes adjacent beams of anangular brush non-interfering. The writer may further separate the beamsof each angular brush by more than the safe distance along the firstaxis, and stagger the first and second angular brushes such that thescanned lines on the workpiece are separated by less than the safedistance.

In some implementations, the writer further includes digital-to-analogconverters (DACs) coupled to the modulators. The modified base power andrasterized pattern data can be combined in a digital input to the DAC.

In some implementations, the AOD uses a crystalline interaction medium.An interaction medium may have a circular birefringence and/or anoff-axis design. The interaction medium may be tellurium dioxide.

Again, the other features described in more detail above can be combinedwith these options in any of the combinations described or suggested.

Another method of forming a two-dimensional array of flying spots on aworkpiece includes projecting a two-dimensional array of coherent beamsthrough a crystal of an acousto-optic deflector (AOD), wherein thecoherent beams approach a first surface of the crystal at varyingincident angles, producing varying diffraction efficiencies of thecoherent beams when swept by the AOD crystal. It further includesmodulating the base power of the coherent beams to compensate for thevarying diffraction efficiencies, as the coherent beams are swept by theAOD crystal and, optionally, projecting the coherent beams as flyingspots onto a workpiece.

The method may further include modulating each of the coherent beamswith pattern data and relaying the pattern modulated beams to theworkpiece, forming scan lines.

In some implementations, there is a minimum separation distance (“safedistance”) between flying spots projected on the workpiece that makesadjacent beams of an angular brush non-interfering. Theseimplementations may further include forming first and second angularbrushes of beams in which the flying spots formed by the respectivebeams of a particular angular brush are separated by more than the safedistance along the first axis, and staggering the first and secondangular brushes such that the scanned lines on the workpiece areseparated by less than the safe distance.

Additional options and features described for the preceding methods,including those related to the DAC and AOD crystal, apply to this methodas well and are incorporated by reference for the sake of brevity.

The corresponding microlithographic writer forms a two-dimensional arrayof flying spots on a workpiece. It includes an acousto-optic deflector(AOD) including a crystal and an array source that projects atwo-dimensional array of coherent beams through the crystal at varyingincident angles, producing varying diffraction efficiencies of thecoherent beams when swept by the AOD crystal. It further includes amodulator modulating the base power of the coherent beams to compensatefor the varying diffraction efficiencies, as the coherent beams areswept by the AOD crystal, and optics that project the coherent beams asflying spots onto a workpiece.

Another method of using an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) and an advancedpower equalisation scheme includes applying a variable frequency RFdriving power to a transducer coupled to the AOD, wherein the RF drivingpower decreases as the variable frequency increases, and compensatingfor lesser diffraction efficiency at higher RF driving frequencies byvarying the base power of one or more flying spots deflected by the AOD,wherein the base power increases as the variable frequency increases.

Some implementations include modulating the varying base power of theflying spots with pattern data and relaying the modulated flying spotsonto a workpiece. In these implementations, the base power variation andthe pattern data modulation may be applied to the flying spots by asingle modulator. The single modulator may be a spatial light modulatoroperating in a diffraction mode or an acousto-optic modulator.

While the present invention is disclosed by reference to the preferredembodiments and examples detailed above, it is understood that theseexamples are intended in an illustrative rather than in a limitingsense.

1. A method of forming a dense brush of interleaved flying spots usingoptics that have a minimum separation distance among flying spotsprojected onto a workpiece that makes adjoining coherent beamsnon-interfering, including: forming a first brush of flying spots ofcoherent radiation with a first separation among the first flying spotswhen projected onto the workpiece that is as large as or larger than theminimum separation distance; forming a second brush of flying spots ofcoherent radiation with a second separation among the second flyingspots when projected onto the workpiece that is as large as or largerthan the minimum separation distance; and characterized by the furtheraction of interleaving the first and second brushes of multiple coherentflying spots where the distance between individual flying spots in thefirst brush and individual flying spots in the second brush whenprojected onto the workpiece is less than the minimum separationdistance, wherein the first flying spots are conditioned to notinterfere with the second flying spots.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first and second flying spots are conditioned not tointerfere by forming the flying spots from first and second coherentsources, respectively.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first andsecond flying spots are conditioned not to interfere by forming theflying spots from coherent sources at effectively different frequencies.4. The method of claim 3, further including using one or more frequencymodifiers to modify the frequency of one or more of the coherentsources.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the coherent sources share acommon laser source.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first andsecond flying spots are short pulses that are conditioned not tointerfere by travelling over different path lengths from a commoncoherent source, whereby the short pulses of the first and second flyingspots do not overlap in time when projected onto the workpiece.
 7. Amicrolithographic writer that produces a dense brush of interleavedflying spots using optics that have a minimum separation distance amongflying spots projected onto a workpiece that makes adjoining coherentbeams non-interfering, including: first and second sources of coherentradiation; an optical path that relays the coherent radiation onto aworkpiece, forming flying spots; at least one brush forming element inthe optical path that separates the coherent radiation into first andsecond brushes of flying spots of coherent radiation, each with aseparation among the flying spots in the respective brushes, whenprojected onto the workpiece, that is as large as or larger than theminimum separation distance; characterized by one or more opticalcombining elements positioned in the optical path to interleave thefirst and second brushes of flying spots where the distance betweenindividual flying spots in the first brush and individual flying spotsin the second brush when projected onto the workpiece is less than theminimum separation distance; and a beam conditioner in the optical paththat conditions the first flying spots of coherent radiation to notinterfere with the second flying spots of coherent radiation.
 8. Thewriter of claim 7, wherein the first and second sources of coherentradiation are separate lasers or light-emitting diodes.
 9. The writer ofclaim 7, wherein the first and second sources of coherent radiationoperate at effectively different frequencies.
 10. The writer of claim 9,further including at least one laser used to produce the first andsecond sources of coherent radiation and at least one frequency modifierin the optical path that modifies the frequency of one or more of thecoherent sources.
 11. The writer of claim 7, further including: a pulsedlaser used to produce the first and second sources of coherentradiation; and two optical paths of different lengths for the first andsecond sources of coherent radiation, wherein pulses from the pulsedlaser are shorter in length than the difference in length of the twooptical paths for the first and second sources of coherent radiation,whereby the short pulses travelling the two optical paths do not overlapin time when projected onto the workpiece.
 12. A method of forming adense brush of interleaved flying spots on a workpiece using acombination of an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) to deflect beams used toproduce the flying spots in a first angular direction and a modulator tomodulate the power of each beam, including: forming a first angularbrush of beams going into the AOD by separating and spreading a firstsource beam into a plurality of first beams, wherein the first beams arespread parallel to a first axis; forming a second angular brush of beamsgoing into the AOD by separating and spreading a second source beam intoa plurality of second beams, wherein the second beams are spreadparallel to the first axis; forming a two-dimensional angular brush bycombining the first and second angular brushes with an offset along asecond axis generally perpendicular to the first axis; driving the AODwith a chirped RF signal and a varying RF power, wherein the varying RFpower controls the average diffraction efficiency of the beams in theAOD; and applying a time-varying modification of base powers ofindividual beams in the first and second angular brushes to correct forbeam-to-beam differences in diffraction efficiency due to Bragg-angledifferences resulting from the angular spread of beams parallel to thefirst axis.
 13. A method as in claim 12, further including modulatingeach of the beams with pattern data and relaying the pattern modulatedbeams to the workpiece, forming scan lines.
 14. A method as in claim 13,wherein there is a minimum separation distance (“safe distance”) betweenflying spots projected on the workpiece that makes adjacent beams of anangular brush non-interfering, further including separating the beams ofthe angular brush by more than the safe distance along the first axis,and staggering the first and second angular brushes such that thescanned lines on the workpiece are separated by less than the safedistance.
 15. A method as in claim 13, wherein for a beam themodification of the base power and the modulation with raster data isdone in the same modulator.
 16. A method as in claim 12, wherein amodulator is controlled by an electric signal from a digital-to-analogconverter (DAC), and the modification of the base power and rasterizedpattern data are combined in the digital input to the DAC.
 17. A methodas in claim 12, wherein the AOD uses a crystalline interaction medium.18. A method as in claim 17, wherein the interaction medium has acircular birefringence.
 19. A method as in claim 17, wherein the AOD hasan off-axis design.
 20. A method as in claim 17, wherein the interactionmedium is tellurium dioxide.
 21. A microlithographic writer thatproduces a dense brush of interleaved flying spots on a workpiece,including: first and second sources of coherent radiation; an opticalpath that relays the coherent radiation onto a workpiece, forming flyingspots; an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) that deflects beams in a firstangular direction; one or more modulators that modulate the power ofeach beam; at least one brush forming element in the optical path thatseparates the coherent radiation into first and second angular brushesof flying spots of coherent radiation, wherein the flying spots in eachbrush are spread parallel to a first axis; a beam combiner in theoptical path that combines the first and second angular brushes with anoffset along a second axis generally perpendicular to the first axis; anAOD driving circuit coupled to the AOD that produces a chirped drivingsignal and a varying driving power, wherein the varying driving powercontrols the average diffraction efficiency of the beams in the AOD; andwherein the modulators apply a time-varying modification of base powersto individual beams in the first and second angular brushes to correctfor beam-to-beam differences in diffraction efficiency due toBragg-angle differences resulting from the angular spread of beamsparallel to the first axis.
 22. A writer as in claim 21, wherein themodulators combine the time-varying modification of base powers withpattern data.
 23. A writer as in claim 22, wherein there is a minimumseparation distance (“safe distance”) between flying spots projected onthe workpiece that makes adjacent beams of an angular brushnon-interfering, further including separating the beams of each angularbrush by more than the safe distance along the first axis, andstaggering the first and second angular brushes such that the scannedlines on the workpiece are separated by less than the safe distance. 24.A writer as in claim 21, further including digital-to-analog converters(DACs) coupled to the modulators, wherein the modification of the basepower and rasterized pattern data are combined in a digital input to theDAC.
 25. A writer as in claim 21, wherein the AOD includes a crystallineinteraction medium.
 26. A writer as in claim 25, wherein the interactionmedium has a circular birefringence.
 27. A writer as in claim 25,wherein the AOD includes an off-axis design.
 28. A writer as in claim25, wherein the interaction medium is tellurium dioxide.
 29. A method offorming a two-dimensional array of flying spots on a workpiece,including: projecting a two-dimensional array of coherent beams througha crystal of an acousto-optic deflector (AOD), wherein the coherentbeams approach a first surface of the crystal at varying incidentangles, producing varying diffraction efficiencies of the coherent beamswhen swept by the AOD crystal; modulating base power of the coherentbeams to compensate for the varying diffraction efficiencies, as thecoherent beams are swept by the AOD crystal; and projecting the coherentbeams as flying spots onto a workpiece.
 30. The method of claim 29,further including modulating each of the coherent beams with patterndata and relaying the pattern modulated beams to the workpiece, formingscan lines.
 31. A method as in claim 30 wherein there is a minimumseparation distance (“safe distance”) between flying spots projected onthe workpiece that makes adjacent beams of an angular brushnon-interfering, further including: forming first and second angularbrushes of beams in which the flying spots formed by the respectivebeams of a particular angular brush are separated by more than the safedistance along the first axis; and staggering the first and secondangular brushes such that the scanned lines on the workpiece areseparated by less than the safe distance.
 32. A method as in claim 30,wherein the modulation of the base power and modulation with patterndata are done in the same modulator for a particular coherent beam. 33.A method as in claim 29, wherein a modulator is controlled by anelectric signal from a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and themodification of the base power and rasterized pattern data are combinedin the digital input to the DAC.
 34. A method as in claim 29, whereinthe AOD uses a crystalline interaction medium.
 35. A method as in claim34, wherein the interaction medium has a circular birefringence.
 36. Amethod as in claim 34, wherein the AOD has an off-axis design.
 37. Amethod as in claim 34, wherein the interaction medium is telluriumdioxide.
 38. A microlithographic writer that forms a two-dimensionalarray of flying spots on a workpiece, including: an acousto-opticdeflector (AOD) including a crystal; an array source that projects atwo-dimensional array of coherent beams through the crystal at varyingincident angles, producing varying diffraction efficiencies of thecoherent beams when swept by the AOD crystal; a modulator modulatingbase power of the coherent beams to compensate for the varyingdiffraction efficiencies, as the coherent beams are swept by the AODcrystal; and projecting the coherent beams as flying spots onto aworkpiece.